Monday, October 26, 2009

20 --- One more photo at the Castle


Thanks go to Thérèse Marie for this photo.
She writes:
How pleasant the Highlands are! I hope to have the opportunity to return to see these landscapes again some day.
Return to the blog regularly for more photos and more comments from the students.
Jane

19 -- The Castle...and the people


Paule, Simone, Jane and Mireille.

The teachers, Sian and Jane.



Thanks again Mireille.
Jane

18 -- Mireille's photos, Urquhart Castle






You can believe us: beautiful castle ruins, beautiful Loch Ness and beautiful weather!
Thank you Mireille for these photos.
Jane

Saturday, October 17, 2009

17 -- Mireille's contribution to this blog

Mireille writes:

What a fantastic day visiting Urquhart Castle!
I will never forget the bagpipe player (also called a “bagpiper” or a “piper”) on the terrace of the Castle. I enjoyed the visitor centre with the audio-visual presentation and the view of the castle’s ruins. We spent one and a half hours cruising Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal and discovering the wonderful scenery. It was a beautiful day; it was a great day!


Her photos of this day in Scotland are at Post 18 (coming soon).
Jane

Monday, October 12, 2009

16 --- The lost golf balls of Loch Ness

Scotland....Loch Ness .... golf.... Take a look at this article. Just double click:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/10/12/loch.ness.golf.balls/index.html

What did the research team find at the bottom of Loch Ness? A monster????

Jane

Sunday, October 11, 2009

15 -- Green grass: why?

Jeanne F. remembers these sayings about Scotland's weather. Could this explain why the grass at St. Andrews is so green?

She writes:

I just remember three little stories that our guide told us about the weather in Scotland :

- Nine months of winter and three months of bad weather.

- When you can see the mountains it's going to rain and if you can't see them, it is raining !

- If you don't like the weather in Scotland, wait five minutes, it will change !

But, fortunately, the weather was so fine when we were in Scotland !

Jeanne F. 07.10.09

14 -- Anne Marie's photos of St Andrews (Read Post 13 about The Birth of Golf)
















What green grass!
How green the grass is!
Thank you Anne Marie for these photos and the information about The Birth of Golf in Post 13.
Jane


Saturday, October 10, 2009

13 -- GOLF in SCOTLAND

Anne Marie has prepared some information for everyone about golf.
Read the text first and you can see her photos in Post 14.

THE BIRTH OF GOLF

Scotland's national game began on the sandy links* around St. Andrews.

The earliest record of the game being played dates from 1457 when golf was banned by James II because it was interfering with his subjects’ archery* practice.

Mary Queen of Scots was berated* in 1567 for playing immediately after her husband Darnley had been murdered.

St Andrews is now a shrine* to golfers all over the world.

St Andrews was the oldest university town and at one time the ecclesiastical capital.

We saw the venerable ruins of the 12th century cathedral in Scotland, once the largest cathedral in Scotland.

It was later pillaged* for its stones which were used to build the town.

The castle was built in the year 1200; the dungeon in which many religious Reformers were held prisoner can still be seen.

The St Andrews golf courses occupy the land to the west of the city; each is open for a modest fee* for everybody.

"You are not a true golfer until you have won at St Andrews."

Anne-Marie Hauduin

_____________________________________
A little vocabulary:
-- links = golf course, built along the seaside. The soil is sandy there.
-- archery = the sport where you use a bow and arrows (Robin Hood was very good at
this sport!)
-- to berate = reprimander
-- shrine = a place of religious devotion
-- to pillage = piller
-- fee = the money you must pay (to play golf here)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

12 -- Lost pictures


Jeanne F. had sent me these photos to put on the blog with her exclamatory sentences, but, I am sorry, they got lost during this busy rentrée! Here they are now.


Can you match her sentences with her photos?
What wonderful purple heather we saw along the roads !
What a dreadful monster we saw in a pond near the Loch Ness !
What beautiful kilts Scottish men wore !
What flashy colors the shop windows had in High Street in Edinburgh !













Jane

11 -- 3 more exclamations

Michèle B. writes:

What a nice week we had in Scotland!

What beautiful landscapes we saw in the Highlands!

What a shame! We didn't meet Nessie when we were on the Loch Ness.


Return to this blog for more texts written by the students who went to Scotland. (We'll stop with the exclamations now.) And come again to see more of their photos.

Jane

10 --- A few of Willy and Jacqueline's photos

Delicious Scottish specialty: HAGGIS



Eilean Donan Castle: you can see it in the film, Highlander

Helen, our guide, told us so much about her beautiful country.


Hotel Watermill, Paisley; father and son



Paisley Cathedral by night



A sunny day in Edinburgh




Jane